Round steak is a very good cut of meat, but it is not used as much as other steak cuts. Some don’t even know how to cook this specific cut of beef. Don’t worry because we got your back! Let’s discuss how to cook round steak to use it and create excellent meals you can add to your restaurant menu.
What Is Round Steak
Before we talk about ways on how to cook round steak, let’s first discuss what a round steak is. Once you get an idea of its characteristics, it will be easier to think of ways you’d want to cook it.
Round steaks are taken from the round part of the beef located on the cow’s hind leg. The round can be divided into the top round and the bottom round. There is a top round steak, and there’s also a bottom round steak.
The round part of beef is typically dry when grilled or roasted since there’s not much fat. It’s a very lean cut of meat, so it can also be too tough. It is commonly cooked by braising or doing beef stews. It can also be cooked thin and dried like beef jerky.
Round Steak Recipes
Let’s now discuss the ways on how to cook round steak. We’ll share with you three recipes that we think can maximize the flavor of round steaks. The first one is the pan-seared round steak. We all know that the round steak is tough, but we can still make it tender with the proper way of cooking it.
We’ll also talk about the round steak with gravy recipe. It’s a great recipe to cook round steak since it adds much-needed moisture to the beef, so it becomes tender and flavorful.
Pan-Seared Round Steak
Let’s start with the easiest and simplest way of enjoying steaks. First, let’s gather all ingredients. One one-inch-thick round steak, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, one-fourth cup olive oil, two tablespoons of red wine vinegar, half a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, a three-fourth teaspoon of dried oregano, 3 cloves of garlic, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 2 sprigs of rosemary.
Let’s start by tenderizing our meat. Strike the meat with the fine spike side of a meat mallet. Don’t hit it too hard, just enough to tenderize the meat. Place the meat in a container and add the olive oil, vinegar, pepper flakes, and dried oregano. Grate one garlic clove into the container. Mix them well and massage them into the meat. Let it marinate for 30 minutes.
Remove the meat from the marinade, remove the excess moisture, and crush the remaining two garlic cloves. Heat the vegetable oil on a cast-iron pan in medium heat. Add the steak and sear both sides for 3 minutes each until a golden crust is formed. Lower the heat and add the crushed garlic and butter. Baste the steak continuously using the butter to prevent the meat from drying up. Cook each side for an additional two minutes each side. Remove from the pan and let it rest for 8-10 minutes. Slice it thinly and top it with some salt.
Round Steak Beef and Gravy
Let’s gather our ingredients. Two pounds of round steak, one tablespoon vegetable oil, two cups of water, one tablespoon beef base or beef bouillon, one large onion chopped finely, three tablespoons flour, and three tablespoons of water.
The first thing we need to do is to sear our meat. Using a large dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil and place the meat. Once the meat turned brown, add the onions and saute it with the meat. After that, add the first cup of water and mix it to get all the glaze on the pot. Add the additional water until the meat is fully covered with water. Add the beef bouillon and mix well.
While doing the browning of your meat, preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. After you’re done with the preparations, Place the lid on the dutch oven, put it inside the preheated oven, and then cook for three hours or until a fork easily cuts it. If your meat is too thick, you might cook it for more than three hours.
After cooking the meat, remove it from the pan because we will use the remaining juices for our gravy. Start by mixing three tablespoons of flour and water. Add the mixture to the pan and cook it on medium heat. Continuously stir the mixture until it becomes thick. You can add more water or flour to get your desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to get the taste you want.
Serve the beef with gravy alongside mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables.
Round Steak Beef Stew
The last recipe on how to cook round steak is the round steak beef stew. This recipe is a continuation of the round steak beef with gravy. If you have some leftovers, you can cook them again like this, and it becomes another dish. The ingredients are three cups of cubed round steak in gravy. One can of crushed tomatoes in puree, two bay leaves, one tablespoon dried parsley, two large potatoes, diced, two carrots, diced, one cup uncooked macaroni, and one bag of frozen corn.
Just add the meat, tomatoes, bay leaves, and parsley into a pot over medium heat. Wait until it boils then, then add the carrots and potatoes. Add some water to help in cooking the carrots and potatoes. When potatoes and carrots become tender enough, add the macaroni. Wait for a few minutes. If you think the macaroni is cooked, add the frozen corn. After a couple of minutes and the corn is cooked enough, remove the bay leaves and serve.
Conclusion
You can do lots of other things with round steak since it is a very lean cut of meat. So, learning how to cook round steak is not that complicated. We hope you learned something from our ways on how to cook round steak. Remember that the round steak is lean and tough meat, and moist heat cooking methods are very good for this cut of meat. Learn more about steaks here!